I expect all of the bigs to share the minutes early in the season and one or two of them to earn more minutes and starts by January.
I was informed by one of Hornecker’s teammates that he is “very smart and works very hard”. He is a fundamentally solid player with good footwork who knows how to score. Plus, he is kinda tall. Go Dawgs.
The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.
James Madison
Spike, I think we've established by now where you stand on Muila. 😆
I do think he's going to have a hard time replicating his impressive total of forced lane violations during free throws from last year.
But yeah, how the big-man mix (Muila, Ebube, Rupert, Hornecker) plays out to me is one of the more interesting questions going into the season. Need improved play in the paint, particularly from an offensive standpoint.
He may get a lot of minutes in order to set the NCAA record on forced lane violations. That hesitation eephus ball shot is a thing of beauty, especially when you always get three shots to miss two!
I was informed by one of Hornecker’s teammates that he is “very smart and works very hard”. He is a fundamentally solid player with good footwork who knows how to score. Plus, he is kinda tall. Go Dawgs.
The guy has terrific footwork and may very well be the best center on this team right now. Not to mention, you can’t teach 7 foot. I’d guess that him and Muila eat up almost all of the minutes at Center this year.
Plus he can step outside for the 3 which would cause matchup problems on offense and switching defense mis matches for the opponent
I was informed by one of Hornecker’s teammates that he is “very smart and works very hard”. He is a fundamentally solid player with good footwork who knows how to score. Plus, he is kinda tall. Go Dawgs.
The guy has terrific footwork and may very well be the best center on this team right now. Not to mention, you can’t teach 7 foot. I’d guess that him and Muila eat up almost all of the minutes at Center this year.
I believe that Ebube is too big and too athletic to keep out of the rotation. The question has been raised as to why he redshirted, at least part of the answer is the fact that he dropped 30 or so lbs. and is now down to a svelte 265. His shot blocking abilities alone are enough to get him minutes.
The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.
James Madison
I was informed by one of Hornecker’s teammates that he is “very smart and works very hard”. He is a fundamentally solid player with good footwork who knows how to score. Plus, he is kinda tall. Go Dawgs.
The guy has terrific footwork and may very well be the best center on this team right now. Not to mention, you can’t teach 7 foot. I’d guess that him and Muila eat up almost all of the minutes at Center this year.
I believe that Ebube is too big and too athletic to keep out of the rotation. The question has been raised as to why he redshirted, at least part of the answer is the fact that he dropped 30 or so lbs. and is now down to a svelte 265. His shot blocking abilities alone are enough to get him minutes.
Southern has not had too many players with Ebube's combination of size and athleticism, so it would be a shame not to take advantage. If he used his redshirt year well and they can coach him up to be in the right spots, screen effectively, etc., I'm hopeful he emerges as a force for the Dawgs, sooner than later, but we shall see. I'm guessing it's very likely his defense is ahead of his offense, but that's also true of Muila and maybe, to a lesser extent, Rupert also.
@dawgbytes I expect Ebube to make a big impact this year.
@dawgbytes I expect Ebube to make a big impact this year.
Agree. One thing for certain, with all of this height and athleticism, BM has a lot of options in the post depending on matchups (with the always required injury caveat).
March on triumphantly!
@dawgbytes I expect Ebube to make a big impact this year.
I know one thing, we all HOPE that he makes a big impact. That being said, just remember....................... at this time last year, there were quite a few people on this board that said both Ebube and Wonders would be starting. Both him and Wonders could take this team to the next level, but an argument could be made that neither average more than 10-12 minutes off the bench. All I'm saying is that we don't know. My last comment, and this is not related to either of the attached posts, is just because a fan says something like "Muila is terrible on defense" doesn't make it true. In fact, I would be willing to bet a couple cases of beer that the coach would beg to differ. Now FT shooting is a whole different story. : )~
I mean he is objectively mediocre defensively. He is slow and his reactions and positioning are odd and he racks up fouls because he can't keep up with D1 front courts.
I know you are his biggest cheerleader-to an almost creepy degree-but he is a fringe D1 player whose best attribute is that he is an average rebounder, who shouldn't be getting minutes for a good D1 team.
I mean he is objectively mediocre defensively. He is slow and his reactions and positioning are odd and he racks up fouls because he can't keep up with D1 front courts.
I know you are his biggest cheerleader-to an almost creepy degree-but he is a fringe D1 player whose best attribute is that he is an average rebounder, who shouldn't be getting minutes for a good D1 team.
So how in the F was the rated the #26 player in Juxo when we signed him?
The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.
James Madison
@dawgbytes I expect Ebube to make a big impact this year.
I know one thing, we all HOPE that he makes a big impact. That being said, just remember....................... at this time last year, there were quite a few people on this board that said both Ebube and Wonders would be starting. Both him and Wonders could take this team to the next level, but an argument could be made that neither average more than 10-12 minutes off the bench. All I'm saying is that we don't know. My last comment, and this is not related to either of the attached posts, is just because a fan says something like "Muila is terrible on defense" doesn't make it true. In fact, I would be willing to bet a couple cases of beer that the coach would beg to differ. Now FT shooting is a whole different story. : )~
Great points. Calls to mind what a client once told me; “do what you think is right, we all make a living off one another’s ignorance”.
The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.
James Madison
I mean he is objectively mediocre defensively. He is slow and his reactions and positioning are odd and he racks up fouls because he can't keep up with D1 front courts.
I know you are his biggest cheerleader-to an almost creepy degree-but he is a fringe D1 player whose best attribute is that he is an average rebounder, who shouldn't be getting minutes for a good D1 team.
So how in the F was the rated the #26 player in Juxo when we signed him?
JUCO rankings are meaningless? Look at the top rated players from that class. The top PF/C in that same list, Valder Manuel, was meh at New Mexico.
I am curious if we have played only one post most of Coach Mullins tenure because he thinks that is the best way to play or because good posts are in such short supply. I hope the staff is open to playing two posts at the same time. Some combination of our four posts (not counting Domask or D'Amico) could be very effective. I realize they would have to guard "stretch 4's and 5's." But opponents would have to guard our posts inside and on the glass. Two- post teams have given SIU fits for a long time. I say this without seeing these players in practice.
